Geological map of the Kaapvaal Craton for Google Earth

shp2kml is a free program that allows to convert ArcView shapefiles in Google Earth layers (kml). Some examples and a longer description are available in two previousarticles (in french) on this site.

Attached to this article is a geological map of the exposed portion of the Kaapvaal craton in North-Eastern south Africa, from Barberton to the Limopo belt ; with some elements of its immediate cover (Transvaal, Karoo..).

The map is generated from the 1/1 000 000 geological map of SA by the council for Geosciences. Accuracy is probabbly about 100-200 m.

shp2kml does not deal so well with "holey" polygons ; small objects included in a larger polygon will tend to be covered and hidden. In this layer is is expecially noticeable with all the enclaves (Bandelierkop gneisses and other greenstone remnants) in the "Basement Gneiss complexes" ; you may have to turn off the basement to be able to see and query the enclaves.

Clicking on a poylgon will reveal its attributes (name, stratigraphy, age). Name and stratigraphy are from the CGS, but I compiled and added the ages (mostly from the recent book on "Geology of South Africa").

You can also play with the slider (under the "paces " tab in GE) to adjust the transparency of the geological map and be able to see the topography below. Of course, you can turn on/off all other layers — I recommand you use the layer "tracks4africa", much more detailed and precise than the regular GE roads.